Nucleic Acids Research, 1981, Vol. 9, No. 15 3641-3646
© 1981
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY |
Stable RNA synthesis and its control in Mycoplasma capricolum
*Departments of Cellular Biochemistry, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School Jerusalem, Israel **Departments of Cellular Biochemistry, Membrane and Ultrastructure Research, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School Jerusalem, Israel
Received June 1, 1981. The synthesis of stable RNA in Mycoplasma capricolum was studied by [32P] labelin g of cellular RNA of cells grown in a partially-defined medium in the presence or absence of an amino acid mixture supplement. The results indicate that M. capricolum employs the same stringent control mechanism used by E. coli cells, as judged by a decreased synthesis of stable RNA and accumulation of 5'-triphosphoguanosine-3'-diphosphate (pppGpp) and 5'-diphosphoguanosine-3'-diphosphate (ppGpp) in response to amino acid starvation. In addition, the results suggest that precursors of stable RNA accumulate and an intracellular pool of the precursors exists at all times under the growth conditions used by us. These findings may be interpreted to reflect a slow rate of RNA processing in M. capricolum.